Rey Mysterio was born on December 11, 1974, Oscar Gutierrez burst into the international wrestling arena with a stint in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he popularised the freestyle wrestling style and kick-start the emergence of cruiserweight wrestling in the United States. However, Rey Mysterio, as he is known as, is best known for his stint with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) since 2002. While he did leave the company in 2015, he has since then returned to the company and is presently in a storyline involving his son Dominik and daughter Aalyah.
A three-time world champion, two-time United States Champion, four-time Tag Team Champion and three-time Cruiserweight Champion, he has had a number of memorable moments in his career.
Here's looking at some of his greatest moments in WWE:
First Cruiserweight Championship: In 2003, Mysterio defeated Tajiri and Jamie Noble in a Triple Threat match to earn a shot at the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. While he lost to Matt Hardy at WrestleMania XIX and did not win the belt, he would go on to defeat Hardy to win his first Cruiserweight Championship on SmackDown in June of the same year. This was his first reign in WWE and his first singles championship in the WWE.
Royal Rumble Win: Mysterio was the second entrant in the 2006 Royal Rumble, which he won, after eliminating Randy Orton to become the last man standing. Mysterio managed to stay for 62 minutes which is a Royal Rumble record. Others whom Rey Mysterio eliminated or assisted in eliminating included Simon Dean, Psicosis and Super Crazy.
First World Heavyweight Championship: Mysterio began a feud with Randy Orton after eliminating him at Royal Rumble, which saw them facing each other at No Way Out for the title shot. While Mysterio lost, effectively giving Orton an opportunity at gold, General Manager Theodore Long re-added Mysterio to the WrestleMania match between Champion Kurt Angle and Randy Orton, effectively making it a triple threat match. At WrestleMania, Mysterio pinned Orton to become the new World Heavyweight Champion.
Tribute to Eddie Guerrero: A night after the unfortunate demise of Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio chose to compete in the memory of his friend. His opponent for the night was veteran wrestler Shawn Michaels. Both superstars donned black armbands with EG emblazoned on them. An engaging match between the two WWE greats saw Mysterio emerge the winner after he hit HBK with a surprise 619 and springboard clash. However, the most memorable moment from the match was Mysterio helping HBK to his feet after the bell and the two embracing in front on an emotional crowd.
Retiring John Bradshaw Layfield: WWE veteran and Hall of Famer JBL's illustrious career came to a stunning end at WrestleMania 25 when in a 21-second squash match, JBL was hit by a quick drop kick followed by a 619 which led him to scream into the microphone, 'I Quit.'